He Knew
by Matchin' Laces
Summary: He had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The one time that they had decided to sell by themselves, just for one day. OneShot


Notes: This is an angsty story. You won't know who it is until the end, though I'll leave some pretty obvious clues throughout the story. I really don't know where this came from. I was thinking this morning and the first part just came to mind. I had to write it. It's short, but I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the newsies. I only own Aqua.

When she received the news, no tears flowed down her cheeks. No dry sobs wracked her body, looking for any physical way to escape. She simply sat there in shock, the only change in her expression were the widening of her eyes as she stared straight ahead. It was as if she was in a trance and couldn't respond.

To anyone outside of the group, it looked like she just didn't care, that it was in no way of any importance to her. But we all knew better.

Before they had gotten together, she had rarely smiled, laughed or shown any sign of emotion. Many of us had tried to make her do any of those things. She wouldn't.

Mush had tried most of his best stuff on her, the kind of jokes that even Spot had laughed at, which was an amazement in itself. She only reacted with lowered eyebrows and a stony expression.

Blink had just plain goofed off, doing little dances and tricks, but it went unnoticed. It was like an unproclaimed contest 'Who could get Aqua to laugh first?' and everyone was trying for first place.

It was the most unlikely person who had made her laugh. The one everyone had thought didn't have an ounce of humor in his bones. The cynicism and sarcasm that most of the others didn't possess were what broke her cold exterior.

All the newsies had just returned from selling the day that it happened. Aqua was obviously in a bad mood, her hands stained far more than some of the boys. It hadn't been a good selling day. She headed straight for her bunk and climbed up.

His was right beside hers, so he easily heard the remarks that passed her lips, snarling out 'I didn't improve the truth that much', and 'how does he get away with calling me a street rat' and so on. He had glanced at her, returned his attention straight up at the ceiling and said 'You should have told him to look in the sewers. He might have found some family down there'. Immediately, and to the surprise of everybody, she had giggled. It was the kind of laugh that seemed almost unnatural coming out of her lips, almost too girly to sound real.

"I should have," she agreed, smiling and looking over at him. The smile looked odd placed on a face usually adorned by a scowl. But it was at that moment that he decided that it was a nice smile, one that he could get used to.

The next day they had gone selling together. They sold more papers that they ever had before. They rarely were separated after that. It wasn't unusual for them to arrive at Tibby's and have him offer to pay for the both of them. It was a nice setup for them. One would pay for the meal and the other for the papers the next morning. They paid their own weekly rent still, but everything else was divided between the two of them. If one was low on luck, the other had their back.

They didn't declare themselves official for a while, because both were not used to a relationship of any kind. Sure, they had friends, but anything more than that was almost too much for either to handle at first.

He had snatched a small piece of twine that was used to hold together the bundles of papers. It was a crude gift, a simple knot created the bracelet that declared her to be his. She had laughed as he placed it over her hand, the inexpensive gift was as good as any real jewelry he could have given her. She had jokingly showed it off to the other girls and that made him laugh. It was a sound Aqua decided that she could get used to.

They were an odd couple, and yet they weren't. They were only odd for the fact that neither seemed like the boyfriend or girlfriend type. Nobody had ever thought that they would get together. Yet, they were almost the perfect couple, so similar, but different enough to have their own lives and to make things interesting.

It was strange how everything played out. If he had held back his sarcastic remark or if she hadn't giggled at his words, they never would have been together. Maybe later, in the future when he let something slip that caused her to laugh, but never then. They didn't sell anywhere near each other and that left no way for them to ever meet by chance while selling. Both were introverts, keeping to themselves. No conversation would have passed between them by choice until she had let her anger get the best of her that day.

He had no hand in the gang fight that had taken place. He had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The one time that they had decided to sell by themselves, just for one day.

Now, he was gone. She slowly blinked, senses returning to her. Aqua looked down at the crude knot holding the loop of twine together. It dangled at the edge of her wrist and she lifted her other hand to gently take hold of it and run her fingers over its rough texture.

She looked into the eyes of the messenger…Snitch, his best friend. She then glanced back down at the floor, mouth opening but no sounds forming. She swallowed audibly, dryly.

"I never got to tell him that I loved him," she finally spoke, shock making its way through her system.

"He knew Aqua," Snitch told her, sitting beside her for a moment of comfort, placing an arm around her. She finally allowed the tears to form and streak down her face, and placed her head on his shoulder, "He told me himself. He loved you too. Skittery knew."


End file.
